Contemporary Sociological Theory and Its Classical Roots: The Basics

This is the first textbook for sociological theory that is modeled after the texts routinely available for introductory sociology courses. It is concise (although it covers a lot of ground), written in a highly accessible fashion, and includes much of the pedagogy that one expects to find in an introductory text. The book stems from the need of some instructors for a short text to be used in one-semester courses in contemporary sociological theory, or sociological theory more generally. At least some students (and their instructors) have found other texts too long, too dense and too complex. This volume is not only short, but comparatively light (but not lightweight) and less technical.